Waterproof closing means



Feb' 19, 1935 L. v.` KEvlczKY I WATERPROOFv CLOSING MEANS Filed oct. 27, 195s l` ,RWA w TTRNEY.

Patented Feb. 19,1935 l UNITED vSTATES PATENT FFICE.`

wA'rERPRooF cLosmG MEANS Laszlo V. Keviczky, New York, N. Y. Application october 27,1933, smal No. 695,46z z claims. (c1. 24-205) This invention relates to separable fasteners vided in the material 10, as is the case in my life and has for its main object to provide means in preserver suit of said patent. In said suit said connection with such devices which will make opening is for the purpose of permitting entry the same tightly sealed when closed, substantially into the Ygarment or for taking the same off the being tight against liquids, air, moisture and body of the wearer, and it is one of my objects to 5 vapors. use my water-tight sealing means, to be described Another object o1' this invention is 'to provide hereinafter, in connection with closing the opensealing means of the character mentioned which ing in said life preserver suit. will automatically close or open withv the corre- The opening or slit in the material 10 in the l0 spending movement of the fastener to which they drawing starts at l1, at its upper end, and terl0 are applied. minates at 12, as its lower end, the right and Still a further object of this invention is to left hand side marginal edges 0f the materiel provide sealing means in connection with sepso separated being indicated by thenumerals 13 arable fasteners adapted to seal in a substantially and 14, respectively. To the portions adjacent i.

Water, air and moisture-proof manner the termito the edges 13 and 14 of the material 10, I se- 15 nations ofthe elements which are secured to one cure two strips of fabric. 15 and 16. which Carry another by separable fasteners. the separable fastener elements generally indi- Still further objects of this invention will be cated by the numeral 17 and having arright hand apparent as the specification of the same proand left hand row of elements 18 and 19 respec- 20 ceeds, and among them may be mentioned: to tively. 'I'he construction, use and operation of 20 provide sealing devices along the meeting lines of such separable fastener elements 0I various types elements to be secured by separable fasteners, as are well known in theart, and the detailed con- Well as for thetermination of such meeting lines, struction and Operation 4thereof Will het be flewhich will be adapted'to be easily applied to exscribed in the present application. het being Perl',

isting separable fasteners. without any change in 0f my invention. In the embodiment Shown. I 25 their structure, application or operation, which 'illustrate a certain type of such separable fastenwill be ecient in use, simple in construction, and er which is the invention of G..E. Prentiss et al., inexpensive to manufacture. y and which has been patented on February 7th,

' In the drawing forming a part of this specin- 1928, under the title Separable fastener, No.

cation and accompanying the same: 1,658,392. 30

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of separable AS iS Well knOWD, 511011 separable fasteners fastening means applied along the severing line are provided With a Slider member 20 Operated of a textile fabric or the like, my invention being by a. catch or grip 21, and as said slider 20 is applied to said fastener; pulled upwardly, as indicated by the arrow 22 Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in in Fig..1, it will cause the individual elements of :.3

Fig. 1in a partly open condition; the two rows of fasteners 18 and 19 to securely Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, the section being engage one another and so fasten the edges 13 made o n the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, while' and 14 to'one another, said edges being the two Fig. 4 is anther fragmentary sectional elevaelements which .it is desired to fasten together- 40 tion of Fig. 1 on the line 4 4, and When, however, slider 20 is pulled downwardly, as 4 'J Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on the line 5-5'0 indicated by arrow 23 in Fig. 2, the individual Fig. 2; fastener elements 18 and 19 will be separated Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the element used from one another and a gradually lengthening in my device to tightly seal the termination of opening 24 will be provided between the elements the separation lines of the elements to be fastened 13 and 14.- 45

together. Such separable fasteners, andparticularly the Referring to the drawing more specifically, by one illustrated here and described in said patent, characters of reference, the numeral 10 indicates provide an extremely reliable Securing means bea textile fabric of the character tight and proof tween the two elements to be secured together,

against liquids. like water, and also possibly, and, at the same time, the unitsof such fasten- 50 when necessary, against air or otherV gases or ing means maybe caused to engage one another vapors, like the material of which my life prein an easy and quick manner and they may be server suit is made, for which I obtained a. 'disengaged and the two elements separated in a patent of the United States, granted on Decemquick, easy and expedient way, therefore, auch ber'31st. 1918-, No. 1,289,476. An opening is proseparable f means'are highly desirable in many places where two elements are to be secured or opened in a speedy and eicient manner, like-in said opening in my mentioned life preserver suit, and in many other instances.

One disadvantage of applyig such quick separable fastening means between twoelements lies in the fact that such elements will not provide a water, liquid, or, much less, vapor or gasproof connection between the two elements, and it is the main purpose of my invention, as has been pointed out hereinbefore, to provide i means in connection with such separable fasteners whereby the same may close on one another with substantially tight sealing effect.

For this purposegin the embodiment selected as illustrative in this application, I vsecure left hand and right hand elastic strips of material 25 and 26, respectively, underneath and to the fastener strips 15 and 16, said elastic strips preferably being made of appropriate rubber material, and in the embodiment shown, the right hand one being provided with a longitudinal projection 27, while the left hand one will be provided with a corresponding and registering depression 28. When the mentioned fastener means connect the elements 13 and 14 they also will cause the two rubber strips 25 and 26 to tightly engage vone another along their separation line 29 and to make this sealing effect more secure, the projection 27 and depression 28 have been provided, the projection entering said depression and being tightly pressed thereinto (Fig. 3), while when the separable fasteners are opened, as indicated in a portion of Fig. 2, the rubber strips 25 and 26 will also be disengaged, as indicated in Fig. 5. The lower end 12 of the opening or slit 24 in the material 10 is permanently and tightly closed by any appropriate means V12a well known in the art, while I employ a piece or sheet of rubber material 30 to tightly seal the upper end of said opening or slit in the material "10, when it is so desired, namely, when the two edges 13 and 14 are tightly closed together.

Said rubber piece 30 is secured underneath the upper ends 31 and 32-of the fastener strips 15 and 16, which, at the upper portion thereof, are devoid of the separable fasteners 18 and 19 and are also secured to the intact adjacent portion 33 of the material 10, or in case two separate pieces of material are to be secured together then to the similarly located portions'of eaeh`of them. The lower end of the rubber piece 30 shows two inclined sides 34 and 35, at the right and left sides thereof, and the sealing rubber strips 25 and 26 have similarly inclined terminations or upper edges 36 and 37 in co-operatively adjacent relation to said sides 34 and 35. The edges 34 and 35 carry wedge shaped projections 34a and 35a which may engage similarly shaped depressions in the edges 36 and 37 of the strips 25 and 26 so that said sides of the rubber piece 30 and said ends of the rubber strips 25 and 26 may engage one another in a tightly sealing manner when the separable fastener means are completely closed and their securing action reachessaid ends 36` and 37 of the rubber strips 25 and 26. The rubber piece 30 is tightly secured to the undersides of the fastener strips 15 and 16 and to the respective portion 33 of the material 10 thereabove, but only on about a surface indicated by the dotted cross-hatching lines 38 so that when the ends 36 and 37 of the rubber strips are closed upon the sides 34 and 35 of the rubber piece or block 30 a complete sealing eiect will be provided for the vupper end of the slit 24. For a smoother working of the closing of the rubber strips 25 and 26 on the rubber block or piece 30 or for their easier disengagementtherefrom some superfluous or added materials 40 and 41 may be provided in fastener strips 15 and 16, respectively, which, in the opened position of the two element are illustrated in Fig. 2, as stretched downwardly and outwardly underneath the material 10 which also may be'somewhat increased at these places. In the closed position of the parts,

as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, said increased or superfluous materials will show` in wrinkles 42 and 43. In a similar manner, the upper free portions of the edges 13 and 14 may adjust themselves in some wrinkles 45 vand 46 when in an opened position (Fig. 2).

It will be understood that changes and variations may be made in the parts and combinations of my device and I hereby reserve all my rights to any and all such changes as are within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new, is:

l. In combination with means adapted to secure together two adjacent elements or to permit them to separate, an elastic strip of material secured to each of said elements adjacent to the fastening means thereon, the two elastic strips on said two elements tightly engaging one another when the elements are secured together and so to provide a substantially air, gas liquid and moistureproof sealing along the separation line of said two ele-- ments, a cross piece of elasticmaterial at the termination of the separation line of said two elements being tightly secured toboth of said velements and engaging each of said elastic strips of material for tightly sealing the termination .of said separation line, said cross piece having inclined sides adjacent to said strips of material' and said strips having correspondingly inclined ends to engage said inclined sides.

2. In combination with means adapted to secure together two adjacent elements or to permit them to separate, an elastic strip of material secured to each of said elements adjacent to the fastening means thereon, the two elastic strips on said two elements tightly engaging one another when the elements are secured together and so to provide a substantially air, gas liquid and moistureproof sealing along the separation line of said two elements, a cross piece of elastic material at the termination of the separation line of said two elements being tightly secured to both of said' elements and engaging each of said elastic strips of material for tightly sealing the termination of said separation line, said cross piece having inclined sides adjacent to said strips of material and said stripshaving correspondingly inclined ends to engage said inclined sides, said inclined v sides and ends also having respective depressions and projections drawn into tight engagement with one another when said two elements are closed and fastened together.

LASZLO V. KEVICZKY. 

